6 Applicatives in Toba/Qom (Guaykuruan)
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Marisa Censabella
Abstract
Toba or Qom l’aqtaqa (T/Q) is a polysynthetic Guaykuruan language spoken mainly in the Argentinean Chaco region. It lacks morphological case marking and adpositions; instead, the role of the unmarked NPs is either specified by the lexical meaning of the verb or encoded via applicativization. There are twelve applicative verbal suffixes: five with a locative meaning, four with a goal/directional one, and three that encode benefaction, reception, and accompaniment, respectively. Whether valency-increasing or valency-re-arranging, applicativization introduces applied arguments as core P arguments (as seen in number agreement and constituent order patterns, as well as in topicalization and its consequences for coordination and subordination pivots). When used with transitive roots/bases, applicatives do not add a third argument but change the meaning expressed by the verb, allowing a different semantic role from the one specified in the verbal root/base. T/Q is a beneficiary-prominent language: whenever the speaker wants to highlight the benefit that a non-subject participant gets through the verbal event, that participant will be encoded as a beneficiary. Serial verb constructions seem to be the origin of applicatives, and the grammaticalization processes undergone by the latter-in coexisting stages of evolution-show plausible routes for pragmatic morphology.
Abstract
Toba or Qom l’aqtaqa (T/Q) is a polysynthetic Guaykuruan language spoken mainly in the Argentinean Chaco region. It lacks morphological case marking and adpositions; instead, the role of the unmarked NPs is either specified by the lexical meaning of the verb or encoded via applicativization. There are twelve applicative verbal suffixes: five with a locative meaning, four with a goal/directional one, and three that encode benefaction, reception, and accompaniment, respectively. Whether valency-increasing or valency-re-arranging, applicativization introduces applied arguments as core P arguments (as seen in number agreement and constituent order patterns, as well as in topicalization and its consequences for coordination and subordination pivots). When used with transitive roots/bases, applicatives do not add a third argument but change the meaning expressed by the verb, allowing a different semantic role from the one specified in the verbal root/base. T/Q is a beneficiary-prominent language: whenever the speaker wants to highlight the benefit that a non-subject participant gets through the verbal event, that participant will be encoded as a beneficiary. Serial verb constructions seem to be the origin of applicatives, and the grammaticalization processes undergone by the latter-in coexisting stages of evolution-show plausible routes for pragmatic morphology.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Purpose and Aim of the Series V
- Contents VII
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Part I: General chapters
- 1 Applicative constructions: An introductory overview 1
- 2 Questionnaire on applicative constructions 57
- 3 Languages examined or referred to in the present book 61
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Part II: Case studies
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Individual languages
- 4 Hul’q’umi’num’ Salish applicative constructions 79
- 5 Applicatives in Upper Necaxa Totonac 115
- 6 Applicatives in Toba/Qom (Guaykuruan) 143
- 7 The applicative constructions of Mapudungun 179
- 8 Applicative constructions and non-applicative uses of applicative morphology in Tswana (Bantu) 211
- 9 Applicativization in Amharic 243
- 10 Applicative constructions in Standard Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) 279
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Areal overviews
- 11 Contact-induced diffusion of applicatives in northwestern Amazonia? 307
- 12 Applicatives in Papuan languages 347
- 13 Applicative constructions in Australian Aboriginal languages 391
- 14 Applicativizing preverbs in selected European languages 419
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Genealogical overviews
- 15 Applicatives in Northern Uto-Aztecan languages 475
- 16 Applicative constructions in Uto-Aztecan languages from Northwestern Mexico 509
- 17 Applicative constructions in the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan (Eskimo-Aleut) languages 557
- 18 Applicatives across Algonquian 601
- 19 Applicative constructions in Mayan languages: An overview with special focus on Chontal 645
- 20 Applicative constructions in two Otomanguean families: Otomi and Zapotec 679
- 21 The polyfunctional applicative *-ɪd in Bantu languages 719
- 22 B-applicatives and I-applicatives in Atlantic languages (Niger-Congo) 749
- 23 Nilotic applicatives 783
- 24 Applicative constructions in Cushitic 835
- 25 Applicative constructions in the Northwest Caucasian languages 869
- 26 Applicative constructions in Kartvelian 913
- 27 Applicative derivations in Kiranti 943
- 28 Applicative constructions in languages of western Indonesia 971
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Part III: Theoretical/Comparative outlook
- 29 Understanding applicatives 1007
- 30 Applicatives cross-linguistically: Features and distribution 1033
- 31 Applicative and related constructions: Results and perspectives 1045
- Language index 1077
- Subject index 1083
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Purpose and Aim of the Series V
- Contents VII
-
Part I: General chapters
- 1 Applicative constructions: An introductory overview 1
- 2 Questionnaire on applicative constructions 57
- 3 Languages examined or referred to in the present book 61
-
Part II: Case studies
-
Individual languages
- 4 Hul’q’umi’num’ Salish applicative constructions 79
- 5 Applicatives in Upper Necaxa Totonac 115
- 6 Applicatives in Toba/Qom (Guaykuruan) 143
- 7 The applicative constructions of Mapudungun 179
- 8 Applicative constructions and non-applicative uses of applicative morphology in Tswana (Bantu) 211
- 9 Applicativization in Amharic 243
- 10 Applicative constructions in Standard Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) 279
-
Areal overviews
- 11 Contact-induced diffusion of applicatives in northwestern Amazonia? 307
- 12 Applicatives in Papuan languages 347
- 13 Applicative constructions in Australian Aboriginal languages 391
- 14 Applicativizing preverbs in selected European languages 419
-
Genealogical overviews
- 15 Applicatives in Northern Uto-Aztecan languages 475
- 16 Applicative constructions in Uto-Aztecan languages from Northwestern Mexico 509
- 17 Applicative constructions in the Inuit-Yupik-Unangan (Eskimo-Aleut) languages 557
- 18 Applicatives across Algonquian 601
- 19 Applicative constructions in Mayan languages: An overview with special focus on Chontal 645
- 20 Applicative constructions in two Otomanguean families: Otomi and Zapotec 679
- 21 The polyfunctional applicative *-ɪd in Bantu languages 719
- 22 B-applicatives and I-applicatives in Atlantic languages (Niger-Congo) 749
- 23 Nilotic applicatives 783
- 24 Applicative constructions in Cushitic 835
- 25 Applicative constructions in the Northwest Caucasian languages 869
- 26 Applicative constructions in Kartvelian 913
- 27 Applicative derivations in Kiranti 943
- 28 Applicative constructions in languages of western Indonesia 971
-
Part III: Theoretical/Comparative outlook
- 29 Understanding applicatives 1007
- 30 Applicatives cross-linguistically: Features and distribution 1033
- 31 Applicative and related constructions: Results and perspectives 1045
- Language index 1077
- Subject index 1083
